The present invention relates to a method for positioning a component, particularly a sheet metal component which has a first hole or a first recess, as well as to a positioning device for such components.
In many applications, components have to be positioned in a spatially defined orientation in a simple and accurately repeatable manner.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method by which components, particularly sheet metal components, can be positioned in a spatially defined orientation in a particularly easily repeatable manner with high precision. It is a further object of the invention to create a positioning device that is suitable for this purpose.
An aspect of the invention is the idea of placing or supporting a component, which has a first hole or a first recess, by using a first support that is formed by a sphere or a spherical cap. In this case, it is a prerequisite that the diameter of the first hole or of the first recess is at least slightly smaller than the diameter of the sphere or of the spherical cap. By placing the first component onto the first support such that the first hole or the first recess is disposed on the sphere or the spherical cap, a bearing is obtained that is similar to a ball joint, i.e. the first component can be swiveled about the sphere or the spherical cap of the first support.
A spatially defined orientation of the component in the space will be obtained when the component additionally rests on a second and a third support.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the component has a second hole or a second recess and, by way of the second hole or the second recess, is placed on a second support, which is formed by a sphere or a spherical cap. Analogously to the first support, it is assumed here that the diameter of the second hole and of the second recess is at least somewhat smaller than the diameter of the sphere or of the spherical cap of the second support.
The first and/or the second hole or the first and/or the second recess may preferably be circular. However, this does not necessarily have to be the case. The first and/or the second hole may, for example, also have a triangular, quadrangular, pentagonal or any other polygonal design, in the form of a semicircle, a crescent or the like.
By placing the component in a third position of the component onto a third support, the component can be deposited in a spatially fixed manner in a defined fashion.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the first, the second and/or the third support is a magnetic support, i.e. a support that attracts ferromagnetic components, such as steel sheet components. By placing the component on a magnetic support, it is ensured that the component is attracted by the support. If the support is a sphere or a spherical cap, i.e. a magnet in the shape of a sphere or a spherical cap, and the component is placed onto the support by way of a hole provided in the component or a recess provided in the component, the component will automatically be centered with respect to the corresponding sphere or the spherical cap.
According to a further aspect of the invention it is provided that the first support is height-adjustable in a vertical direction and is adjusted to a predefined height before placing the component. In other words, the corresponding bearing point is pre-adjusted with respect to its height.
According to a further aspect of the invention, it is provided that the second support can be adjusted or displaced in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction, i.e. in a transverse direction and, before the placing (or during the placing) of the component, is moved or displaced into a position, in which the second hole or the second recess comes to be situated on the second support.
It may further be provided that the second support can be displaced on a bearing rail, which is formed by two parallel rail side walls projecting in the vertical direction from a supporting table. If one of the supports is a sphere or a spherical cap, the latter can be disposed directly on the rail. In this case, it is essential that the diameter of the sphere or of the spherical cap is larger than the spacing of the rail side walls. If the second support is formed by a sphere, the latter can therefore be rolled directly on the rail side wall in the longitudinal direction of the bearing rail and can therefore be brought into a suitable position.
According to a further aspect of the invention, it is provided that the third support is also formed by a sphere or a spherical cap. If the third support is formed by a spherical cap, it may be provided that a flat side of the spherical cap of the third support rests from below against a bottom side of the component or the component rests on the flat side of the spherical cap.
It may be provided that the first, the second and/or the third support are arranged on a supporting table which has a hole grid, at least one of the supports being inserted into a hole of the hole grid.
As an alternative, a supporting table may also be used for the positioning of the supports, which supporting table has a regular “profiling”, at least one of the supports being inserted into a recess of the profiling. The profiling may, for example, have a plurality of circular, triangular or polygonal trough-type recesses, which are arranged in a regular pattern, for example, in a hole grid, and which are provided for receiving a sphere or a spherical cap.
As an alternative or in addition, the supporting plate may also have a plurality of oblong trough-type recesses, which are arranged in a regular pattern and are provided for receiving or centering a sphere or spherical cap. For example, a plurality of mutually parallel or mutually perpendicular oblong recesses or a plurality of pairs of mutually parallel or mutually perpendicular oblong holes may be provided in the supporting plate, in which case a sphere or a spherical cap—similarly to the above-described supporting rail—, can be placed directly on or partially into such a recess or into such an oblong hole. Similarly to the case of a supporting rail, the sphere or spherical cap can be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the corresponding recess or of the corresponding oblong hole.
As a result of the invention, costly tensioning devices currently used in vehicle body construction can be avoided or their number can be reduced. The invention is suitable particularly for the positioning of components in small piece number (small-scale series). Components positioned according to the invention can be processed subsequently, for example, in that bolts, screws or the like are placed in the component.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.